“We are talking about a powerful player; he is a strong player physically and for sure he has a lot of space for improvement.

“The performance depends a lot if the striker scores or not scores. It is important to score but it is important that the striker has to work for the team and I think Michy in this way has improved a lot.

“I don’t know if this is the best game for Michy. For sure it was very important for the team and him to score. It is very important for the confidence.”

Conte was delighted with the way his team handled a “difficult” tie against Premier League opposition.

“I think a good performance,” the Italian added. “It won’t be easy because Newcastle prepared a very defensive game with players on the edge of the box, three midfielders very deep and two strikers to mark our central midfielders. It was very important to score the first goal.

“Pedro and Hazard, they created a fantastic chance with their ability and the pass from Hazard for Michy and then he scored.

“After this goal the situation was more simple. In the second half we controlled the game and didn’t risk to concede a goal.”